Rationale:In
order for
children to learn to read and spell words, they must first understand
that
letters stand for phonemes which map out the sounds inspoken words. The ability
to recognize phonemes in a spoken
context is important in that this must occur before children can match
letters
to phonemes.This lesson will help
children identify the oo= /U/ (long U) correspondence.They will experience a meaningful
representation and letter symbol that will later help them practice how
to
recognize /U/ in both spoken and written words.

Introduce
the
lesson by explaining that our written language is like a secret code. "The hardest part is to learn which mouth moves
different letters tell us to do when we read words.Today, we’re going to work on the mouth move /U/.Let’s
think about and try to spot what our
mouths do when we use that sound in different words

."

Ask:"Did you ever see someone put their hands up
to their face
when they see something scary and maybe even cover their eyes?Some people make a sound that says /U/.Let’s
pretend that something scares us now.We’ll
do the spooky movement (put hands to face) and then
make the spooky sound that goes with it."

Let’s
try a tongue
twister [on chart strip].“Oodles of
ooblick are oozing out.”Let’s all say it
three times together.This
time, when we say it again, we’re going to stretch the /U/ sound in the
words and do our spooky movement whenever we hear that sound.“Oooodles of oooobleck are ooozing out.”

[Have
students
take our primary paper and pencils.] "We can use the letters oo
to spell /U/.Let’s practice writing two
lowercase o’s together.Don't
forget to leave spaces between your pairs.I
would really like to see everyone’s pairs,
so I'll walk around to look and help anyone that needs it.

"Let
me show you
how to find the /U/ sound in loop.I’m going to stretch loop out very slowly
so that we can listen for the spooky sound.L-l-l-l-oo-p.L-l-l-l-oo-oo-oo…there it is!I hear our spooky sound, do you?

Now
let's try writing a word with oo
in it. I will write the word zoom.
Start with the z...Next, is
our spooky sound oo...Then,
the last letter is m.
Z-z-oo-oo-oo-m. Zoom! Now you try writing it. Are
there any other words that you can think of that have oo in it? Try spelling them!

Pass
out several
different word cards to each student. Have students practice reading
and identifying words with the /U/
sound by playing a game. "Now, I’m going
to pass out some word cards.Let’s see who
can spot the /U/ sound and mouth move. If I call
a word with the oo
sound in it, let's all make the spooky sound and movement!"
Call the words out loud in a mixed up order and have the students with
that specific word card hold it up when they hear it. Next, have
students answer these questions and discuss how they knew:
"Do you hear /U/ in kid or troop?Line or loop?Zoom or fall?Boot or shoe?How about: The, spooky,
witch, will, soon, swoop, on, her, broomstick, and, snoop.

"

Say:
“Did you know
that baby monsters have to go to sleep too?They
have rules and certain ways that they like to be put to bed, just like
you!Can you guess what they like at
bedtime?You and a partner will have to
read Goodnight, Baby Monster to find out!After students read the story, go through the
book together to find the words with the /U/ sound.List them on the board and discuss any that are unclear.Have students choose their favorite word from
the list to put into a message (invented spelling).

To
assess,
distribute the picture page and
have them individually go through the page and match the the /U/ sound
pictures with the word column. Afterwards, go through the
responses as a class and have students discuss how they got their
answers.